


whispers of lives

by timelessidyll



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, M/M, Nonlinear Narrative, fiances, fluctuating narrative, kinda wtnv inspired?, mentions of blood and violence but not really graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-05 20:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17332190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelessidyll/pseuds/timelessidyll
Summary: taeyong has been finding taeil for a while. he hasn't been able to keep him.





	whispers of lives

**Author's Note:**

> wow??? ren?? back on her bullshit and not posting a substantial fic??? you're right! apologies for the short 1k drabble but i wanted to get this idea out of my head jdshfjh
> 
>  
> 
> [my twitter!](https://twitter.com/timelessidyll)  
> [my curiouscat!](https://curiouscat.me/timelessidyll)

the bell above the door jingles and taeil turns around from where he’d been organizing the back wall, a permanent smile plastered on his face. it’s dangerous to be in this town without one. but the bakery is empty, and the customer is familiar and welcome, and he lets the sharp edges of his lips soften. his white hair smells freshly dyed as he comes closer to the counter, at arms with the scent of the fresh bread and sweet cakes. the newcomer offers taeil a small smile in return, and he takes a quick look outside to check for the ravens before deciding he was safe for a few minutes.

“taeyong,” he greets softly, for a moment left breathless. “it’s been a while.”

“i know. i’m sorry it’s taken so long,” he says ghosting his fingers along the back of taeil’s neck and silently urging him to lean in. taeil fulfills the request with tempered anticipation, carefully holding taeyong’s face in his hands and pressing a longing kiss to his lips, taking a moment to taste the raspberries taeyong had eaten, before reluctantly pulling away. taeyong chases after his lips for a second before remembering their situation and restraining himself. he lets his hand fall down to circle loosely around taeil’s wrist.

“i have a present.” taeil freezes and stares at him, wide-eyed and horrified.

“you can’t give it to me,” he hisses helplessly, catching sight of a raven flying down to perch on the bench outside of the bakery. he escapes back behind the counter quickly to avoid suspicion. taeyong remains relaxed, but he can’t help the downturn of his expression seeing taeil’s reaction. he doesn’t need to ask to know what’s waiting outside, searching for anything to hold against taeil and report back to the council.

“can i have a loaf of cinnamon swirl?” he asks casually as if he had truly entered the establishment with the only goal of buying bread. taeil’s perfect smile is back, cold and fake, and he responds with a bright, “sure!” before turning to roll a loaf into parchment paper to put in a bag and give to taeyong. he takes the bag with steady hands even as his eyes waver and drop from taeil’s eyes to his lips, and hands him the money. he doesn’t ask for taeil to keep the change. he knows the response he’ll get. the town has eyes everywhere, taeyong has learned, and putting taeil at risk isn’t on his agenda. he thanks him with tight-lipped politeness and walks out of the shop, looking everywhere except at the raven drilling its beady eyes into him.

today is another failed day, he thinks bitterly to himself, taking a quick glance behind him as he passes the corner to make sure that the raven has found a different target. he taps his watch and disappears.

 

the bell above the door jingles, but no one is there to see the man walk through. taeyong stops, looks over the bakery with a critical eye, and barely manages to contain the swears that threaten to escape him. he’s too late today. the ravens had already come.

 

the bell above the door jingles and taeil turns around with a practiced smile on his face. taeyong walks in purposefully and taeil allows his smile to take on a true shine, coming out from behind the counter with a blueberry muffin. taeyong smiles back and takes the muffin happily, giving taeil a kiss on the nose in their blessed peace. no eyes, no ravens. he knows it won’t last long, and so takes this moment with gratitude.

“no welcome back kiss?” taeyong asks coyly, lifting an eyebrow and watching taeil blush. this is a time from the first few months of their relationship, so taeil’s much more sensitive to his direct questions. he finds it cute when taeil does nothing more than press their lips together for a few seconds before backing away behind the safety of his counter. his heart hurts to know that a year from now he’s never going to see him again.

 

the bell above the door jingles, and this time there’s no calmness greeting taeil. instead, it’s a round of bullets shattering glass, and the frame cracks from the force and falls in with the jagged pieces of the window front. taeyong jumps over the counter and sinks down to where taeil is huddled, his back against the counter, and grabs his hand desperately.

“do you trust me?” he asks, voice rough but eyes gentle. taeil notices a deep cut next to his right eye and smaller lacerations along his neck and his arms. he wants to clean him up, but another round of bullets showers the door, and he knows they don’t have time.

“always.”

“then come on.” taeyong hauls him to his feet and they run through the bakery and out the back door, looking up fearfully when they hear the ominous caws of the ravens huddling around the store. taeil almost freezes, terrified by the sight of so many watchers, but taeyong continues to pull him along.

abruptly, he makes a cut into a side alley, and taeil falls into his side and waits for his next words. “do you trust me?”

“i already said i did.”

“then don’t freak out.” taeyong presses their lips together harshly, accidentally biting on taeil’s lip from the force he applies. taeil resists until he realizes what was happening, and when he relaxes, taeyong taps his watch, and the noise of the street falls away.

the ravens find no one in the alley.

 

the door creaks open, and taeyong looks up with a loving smile on his face. taeil has a scarf bundled around his neck, thoroughly aversed to the wind bringing a winter chill into his bones, and taeyong notices fondly that his nose and ears are bright red.

“yong-ah!” taeil calls, evidently having glossed over the fact that taeyong is seated in the living room with a book in his hands. he decides to keep the charade going and tiptoes behind taeil, waiting until he’d turned his back to hang up his coat before covering taeil’s eyes with his hands.

“guess who,” he sings into taeil’s ear, his smile growing when taeil giggles happily.

“oh, i don’t know who it could be,” he says teasingly. “it couldn’t possibly be my handsome, sweet fiancé.”

“well, i have a surprise for you,” taeyong says with constrained glee, and taeil turns around to receive a kiss from warm lips. taeyong wraps an arm around taeil’s waist and pulls him closer, wanting to ease the coldness of taeil’s lips. when they finally part, taeil is backed up against the door and gazing at him with stars in his eyes, and taeyong thinks this was how their story was always supposed to go. that the terror, abduction, and escape from the town was all a small hiccup along the way.

“as much as kissing you is always a gift,” taeyong says smoothly, “i have something else for you.” he lets taeil go and clasps his wrist loosely to pull him further into their house. he picks up a nondescript box from the side table, where he’d hidden it behind their cactus plant, junior, and removes the bracelet inside. “i found this on a trip to 1865 france,” he explains, wrapping the gold leaf bracelet around taeil’s wrist and fastening it. “i’ve been wanting to give it to you for a while.” taeil twists his wrist in awe, watching how the gold catches and reflects the light, twinkling on his skin.

“you haven’t left in a while,” taeil says ruefully, as if expecting that any day now taeyong would be gone and he would be left in their house alone, too big for one person.

“why would i want to leave,” taeyong answers gently, lifting up the inside of taeil’s wrist and pressing a chaste kiss to it, “when i’ve found the life that i’ve been searching for.” taeil colors red, although this time it has nothing to do with the cold, and taeyong is sure that his watch is going to remain exactly where it sits in a forgotten drawer in taeyong’s desk, collecting dust for the rest of its days.

**Author's Note:**

> [my twitter!](https://twitter.com/timelessidyll)   
>  [my curiouscat!](https://curiouscat.me/timelessidyll)


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